You’ll probably find vents and condensers in any appliance that uses air to dry clothes. Both components play different roles in the drying process, but they serve the same purpose: getting moisture out of your clothing before it has a chance to make you smell like a wet dog.
What is the difference between Dryer Condenser vs Vented? A dryer vent is a pipe that helps exhaust the moist exhaust from inside your dryer. A condenser is a component that cools hot moist air before sending it back into the dryer for another cycle.
Let’s take a look at how each component does its job and why both are so important for effective drying.
What is the Job of a Dryer Vent?
A dryer vent helps to completely remove moisture and warm air from inside your dryer. That warm moist air is what makes your clothes smell like they’ve been sitting in a damp basement. It’s also a breeding ground for bacteria and mildew.
The vent is a long flexible pipe that travels from the inside of your dryer, outside your house, and to the outside of your property. The vent is supposed to allow the warm moist air to travel through it and out of your house.
The warm moist air has nowhere to go inside your house so it stays in your dryer and makes everything smell bad. The vent’s job is to get that moist air out of the dryer and out of your house. That’s why the vent should be long enough to extend outside your house and away from other obstructions like the roof, trees, or shrubs.
What is the Job of a Dryer Condenser?
A condenser is a heat exchanger that cools the warm moist air before it goes back into the dryer. The condenser cools the air so it doesn’t condense back into your dryer and house.
That’s why the air is warm when it comes out of the dryer. The warm air has nowhere to go inside your house so it stays in your dryer and makes everything smell bad. That’s why the condenser is so important for effective drying.
If your dryer isn’t getting enough hot air to complete the cycle and make your clothes dry, it will run longer and use more electricity.
Why are Both Vents and Condensers so Important?
If your dryer isn’t getting enough warm moist air to complete the cycle and make your clothes dry, it will run longer and use more electricity. The longer it takes to dry your clothes, the longer you’re waiting to get out of the house.
That might not be so bad on a slow day, but what if you have somewhere to go on a busy day? If you wait too long to get your clothes dried, you might not have enough time to finish the load before you have to leave.
That means you’re going to have to do laundry again before you can leave. It may sound like no big deal, but what if that happens every week? You’re wasting time and money.
You’re wasting time waiting for your clothes to dry and energy waiting for your dryer to run long enough to dry the clothes. You can avoid that with proper maintenance of the vents and condenser.
How to Tell if you Need to Repair your Dryer Vents?
You can’t fix a kink in your vent. You can, however, stop it from happening in the first place. That’s why it’s important to check your vents for potential problems before they happen.
Look for potential problems like tree branches growing too close to your vents, roof shingles that are curling or cracked, or vents that are too long. One way to check if you have a problem with your vents is to use a flashlight and look up your dryer’s vent pipe.
You’re looking for kinks or bends in the vent. You’re also looking for blockages in the vent, like lint, leaves, or a bird’s nest. Those things can cause your dryer to take longer to dry and increase your energy costs.
How to Determine if you Need a New Condenser?
If your clothes are taking longer to dry and you notice more lint in your lint trap than usual, you’re probably running into problems with your condenser. The best way to know for sure is to take the lint trap out of your dryer, examine it, and see if there’s a significant amount of lint in it.
If there is, you should clean it out and see if conditions improve. If your clothes are still taking too long to dry, you should clean the lint trap again and check the condition of the condenser.
The condenser should be clean and free from any lint or debris. If the condenser is dirty, you’ll need to replace it.
How to Install a new Dryer Vent?
Installing a new dryer vent is pretty simple.
- Start by shutting off the power to the dryer and ensuring that it’s unplugged.
- Next, remove the dryer’s front panel. If you’re not sure how to do that, you can check your dryer’s owner’s manual or search online for “how to remove the front of your dryer model>”.
- Once the front panel is removed, you’ll want to check and clean out the existing vent.
- You can use a vacuum cleaner and a small brush at the end of the hose to clean the vent. If there is a lot of lint or other debris in the vent, you can use a wire brush to clean it out.
- Once the vent is cleaned out, you can install the new vent. Make sure the new vent is the same diameter as the old one. You’ll want it to fit snugly without being too tight to be removed.
- Once the new vent is installed, plug the dryer back in and turn on the power. You can now start your dryer and see if the new duct is working properly.
How to Install a New Condenser?
Installing a new condenser is a bit more involved than installing a new dryer vent. You’ll first want to shut off the power to the dryer and unplug it. You’ll also want to unhook the duct that’s connected to the condenser.
Once the duct is unhooked, you can remove the old condenser. You’ll want to take care not to damage the duct while doing so.
Once the old condenser is removed, you can install the new condenser by sliding it onto the duct and fastening it in place.
Once the new condenser is in place, you can reattach the duct and plug the dryer back in.
Once the dryer is plugged back in and turned on, you can start a dry cycle and see if the new condenser is working properly.
Conclusion
A dryer vent is a pipe that helps exhaust the moist exhaust from inside your dryer. A condenser is a component that cools hot moist air before sending it back into the dryer for another cycle. I hope this article has helped you to know the difference between Dryer Condenser vs Vented. Please leave your feedback below. Thank you!
Johnny White is an avid home blogger, with the goal of helping his readers find inspiration and ideas for their next project. He writes about everything from small design projects to large kitchen renovations. His goal is to help people transform their homes into something that reflects who they are.